The state of the union is a matter of perspective

It’s obvious from the big speech that President Obama has no intention of downshifting on spending. In fact, much of what he proposed will call for additional revenue, which of course is why he made no reference to the manner of implementing anything he said. Let’s look at some of the biggies.

What is the effect of raising the minimum wage to $9 an hour? The debate will rage once again with advocates believing the lowest paid workers will be better off and opponents believing they’ll be laid off. In reality it will have little effect on employment rates and won’t cost the federal government a dime to implement. Yet the free market has been at work and 20 states already have minimum wages above the federal level. Do we really need the White House Poobah dictating pay rates? True cost won’t be known until we see the effect it will have on an erratic economy and whether it ignites the spiral of inflation.

Not only did the president propose how much to pay workers, he also wants a say in where they will work. Fifteen new ‘manufacturing hubs’ is the vision — the details are left to your imagination.

Although Obama called the ‘Fix it First’ initiative a jobs program, it’s really about infrastructure maintenance. This will cost billions but will put a lot of people to work. He didn’t say how we would pay for it — only that taxpayers won’t have to shoulder the entire burden cause private enterprise can join in, too. Huh? It must be a new version of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell.’

When Obama said “we’ve produced more oil at home than we have in 15 years… and more natural gas than ever before,” it must be understood that this has occurred in spite of his policies, not because of them. Ditto for the accompanying jobs. To prop up renewables, watch for even more EPA intrusion and regulation of domestic fossil fuel production. More taxes, fees and penalties will be levied because, in Obama’s world, the U.S. must take the lead in reversing global climate change “before it’s too late.”

Surprisingly, Obama took his lines on immigration reform straight from the Republican playbook. Border security, background checks, paying taxes and penalties, learning English and going to the back of the line are all parts of a prescription long ago written.

There was an emotional plea that victims of gun violence deserved a vote on gun control proposals. But the proposals being touted have been tried, have failed and will have zero effect on curbing future mass killings. Rather than seriously trying to solve this problem, Democrats are trying to look like they’re doing something. Obama did not address the shameful state of our mental health system – nor did he mention gun control measures for federal use of armed drones.

Unfortunately, nothing new was offered. The same party gridlock instituted during term one will continue. Even the stupid sequestration mandate that Obama signed into law may be triggered by inaction. And a solution to deficit spending and ever rising national debt will not be found under current adversarial conditions. Obama has given the problem a deep shoulder shrug. In the absence of leadership, Congress is frozen like a deer in the headlights, and will remain there, staring blankly as the lights grow larger and closer, larger and closer…

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